I called mercilus months ago even if wright was on the board. The gap from mercilus to the next best olb/pass rusher is bigger than the one to the wr. Wr and cb are the deepest in the draft this year. Mercilus is a guy who doesn't have to be schemed to get a sack. Of all the de's who will stand up,he's the most natural. This was a great pick. Not to mention,hill is a project big time. The advisory board gave him a 3rd rd grade. Just because he ran fast in a straight line doesn't mean gms vaulted him up. His short shuttle suggest he can come out a break and gain seperation.

How many times have the Texans selected a defensive player in round one? I'm recalling David Carr, Andre Johnson and Duane Brown on the offensive side. Did I miss anybody else? That one year they selected two defensive players in the first round (Jason Babin draft).

With all the first-round defensive picks we should have a 1985 Bears or 2000 Ravens defense (an all-time great and dominating unit). Statistically speaking, in 2011 it wasn't far off from being something really special. It's just sort of a "really Texans, really..." kind of pick to me. I'll see how it shakes out.

(on what else he’d like to get in the draft to complement the offseason acquisitions and Mercilus) “Well, that remains to be seen. We had six defensive linemen last year, and we only have five on the team right now, so I mean a guy’s got a chance to play for us there and be in the rotation. That’s a factor, and inside backer. We lost one, but we replaced one. I think we’re pretty strong right now overall. I think our secondary is pretty strong, and our front seven looks good. I’m going to beg for another draft pick, so I’m not going to beg out of that. I think there’s some guys in the draft that we like, and we’ll just see where they are.” [url="http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Quotes-Mercilus-and-Phillips-/cfc93317-17d9-452c-a97c-690d79b93b8a"]http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Quotes-Mercilus-and-Phillips-/cfc93317-17d9-452c-a97c-690d79b93b8a[/U

Sounds like he wants someone to rotate with Antonio Smith and J.J. Watt...DE/DT Derek Wolfe, Cincinnati

I've been saying for months that Phillips would end up making the first pick...

"I forgot to tell everybody when I signed my contract with Mr. (Bob) McNair, he said that we could get a first round pick on defense every year. That was part of it, too, so it didn’t surprise me."

(on what else he’d like to get in the draft to complement the offseason acquisitions and Mercilus) “Well, that remains to be seen. We had six defensive linemen last year, and we only have five on the team right now, so I mean a guy’s got a chance to play for us there and be in the rotation. That’s a factor, and inside backer. We lost one, but we replaced one. I think we’re pretty strong right now overall. I think our secondary is pretty strong, and our front seven looks good. I’m going to beg for another draft pick, so I’m not going to beg out of that. I think there’s some guys in the draft that we like, and we’ll just see where they are.” [url="http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Quotes-Mercilus-and-Phillips-/cfc93317-17d9-452c-a97c-690d79b93b8a"]http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Quotes-Mercilus-and-Phillips-/cfc93317-17d9-452c-a97c-690d79b93b8a[/U

Sounds like he wants someone to rotate with Antonio Smith and J.J. Watt...DE/DT Derek Wolfe, Cincinnati

I've been saying for months that Phillips would end up making the first pick...

"I forgot to tell everybody when I signed my contract with Mr. (Bob) McNair, he said that we could get a first round pick on defense every year. That was part of it, too, so it didn’t surprise me."

I wouldnt say that based off of this pick. OLB lacked depth behind Barwin & Reed. Much like DE behind Smith & Watt. Both positions need to be addressed.
This was simply the best player on the board - I figured he'd be long gone.

Mercilus will be a great player though. He has the heart MW is missing.

Lets see a trade up for J.Martin/Hill.

It was a wild 1st rd.

Take a look at the list of WR's still on the board .... and the fact that the 9ers passed on Hill has to make you wonder. No need to trade up with the number of highly rated WR's still on the board.
None of them look to be as good as Blackmon or Floyd but there is value deep in the draft at the position.
The number of WR's remaining is good news for the Texans , they may be able to pick DE , OL and trade back into the 3rd to grab a WR they like .... which would fill just about all the holes created in the offseason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwitexansfan

Most interesting tidbit to come out of today is that Wade Phillips as part of his contract has had it gauranteed that the 1st pick will always be a defensive guy.

I called mercilus months ago even if wright was on the board. The gap from mercilus to the next best olb/pass rusher is bigger than the one to the wr. Wr and cb are the deepest in the draft this year. Mercilus is a guy who doesn't have to be schemed to get a sack. Of all the de's who will stand up,he's the most natural. This was a great pick. Not to mention,hill is a project big time. The advisory board gave him a 3rd rd grade. Just because he ran fast in a straight line doesn't mean gms vaulted him up. His short shuttle suggest he can come out a break and gain seperation.

I agree 100%! Mercilus is a great pick, our D will be down right scary, and we will have a top 3 pass rush this season. I was very concerned entering the season with Nading a Braman as our only back up OLBs. I like what Braman brings to the table but he very raw.

As for Hill, the Raiders are my other team and Hill reminds me of Darius Heyward Bey, fantastic athlete but raw as a WR. DHB is just now, several years later, becoming a pretty good WR. For those that think Hill would walk through the door and replace either KW or JJ, I think you're fooling yourself.

We should have no problem finding a solid WR and OL depth in the coming rds. Our draft is off to a great start.

We should have no problem finding a solid WR and OL depth in the coming rds. Our draft is off to a great start.

Agreed. WR is extremely deep in this draft. I admit, I was really high on Hill coming out of the combine (who wasn't?) but over time came to realize just how much depth this draft has at the WR position. The only two clear cut, top tier guys were Blackmon and Floyd, and we weren't getting either of those guys.

I'd still love to be able to get Hill, but realistically we'd have to trade up for him and I don't think that's worth it. Randle or Sanu if we're looking at a wideout in Rd. 2, if not, take Childs later in the draft. The only player I'd like to trade up for at this point is Martin.

first round pick on a guy that noone ever saw play cause he played at IL, against sub par talent for one year.. We took a huge risk on yet another project player.

Would rather us seen go WR, then OG/OT before spending a first round on this guy.. For me I don't like it.

Couldn't disagree more. As others have mentioned he played in the big 10, that's a top conference.

As for project players, the WRs that would have been drafted at the end of rd 1 are projects. Hill may turn out to be a stud, but he could just as equally turn out to be another in a long line of guys that run really, really fast but can't make it the NFL as a WR.

BTW, Silverhand I've watched many Ilini games and Mercilus was a great value pick. The guys a stud, who is only going to get better as he puts on more weight. He appears to be dedicated to his craft and is a hard worker. Kinda the anti MW/OkOye.